Australian BICON biosecurity regulations

[daveflutes]

Do any of you have experience of the new Australian BICON regulations for importing wood etc into Australia? I'll be sending @Harry-thefluteatelier a box with a variety of wood, mostly cocus.

I'll remove any bark and dust and label absolutely everything. I'll see if there's a contact to ask someone specifically about these woods and the intended usage, but if any of you have shipped into Australia before and can advise that would be greatly appreciated.

 

[daniscool]

@Friedrich9 might know

 

[Nature Man]

@Crocy in Aus.
@Harry-thefluteatelier
@wombat

 

[Crocy in Aus.]

I was aware of the new regulations, but I haven't fully digested them yet. As usual with government rules it's a Chinese puzzle. I'll get onto it soon, but from what I did read, you must give prior notification. Which means I can no longer bring home my wood stash from the US and declare it at customs when I get off the plane. Bit hard when I don't know which friend will shower me with gifts and how much and what species.
Crocy.

 

[daveflutes]

@Crocy in Aus. That's really helpful, thanks. I had cut @Harry-thefluteatelier a selection of brown/red woods in various species and I might have to omit those now. I think it will be best keeping the number of different species to a minimum. Sorry!
If I'm shipping rather than travelling to Australia do you know whether the commodity code and description of the contents will cover the notification? Seems like as simple and clear as possible is the way.

 

[Harry-thefluteatelier]

@Crocy in Aus. That's really helpful, thanks. I had cut @Harry-thefluteatelier a selection of brown/red woods in various species and I might have to omit those now. I think it will be best keeping the number of different species to a minimum. Sorry!
If I'm shipping rather than travelling to Australia do you know whether the commodity code and description of the contents will cover the notification? Seems like as simple and clear as possible is the way.

I've done some searching myself, I'm fairly sure I'm on the right track.

Here's what I'm looking at:
Timber and timber products BICON Case

Basically:

1. The goods must be clean and free of bark, contaminant seed, soil, animal and plant debris and other biosecurity risk material prior to arrival in Australian territory.

2. You may require a wildlife trade permit and/or other approvals from the Wildlife Trade Office. More information is available on the International wildlife trade webpage.
- Basically there's a search thingy and it explains what is required for each species. @davefluteswould it be too annoying to ask for a list of them so I can search through and fill out all required forms (If possible, otherwise I'll just tell you that a certain few can't be sent)?

I think that's all that is relevant?

To be completely honest we could go to all this effort and they might not even check it... I've had multiple flutes come into Australia that have parts made of ivory, the whole headjoint of one of them was ivory and it was completely fine, they didn't even check.

I have a friend who makes cornetto's out of some very exotic woods, I'll ask him how he gets the woods into Australia.

 

[daveflutes]

Thanks @Harry-thefluteatelier . Yes they might let it go for a small box, you just never know. But I don't want you getting a surprise bill for fumigation!

For an easy version we can start with
Cocuswood - I'll clean up any barky pieces
Indian/Ceylon ebony
Boxwood
American ash

A short version of the red/browns would be
Jatoba
Padauk
Red eucalyptus
Panga panga
Rose mahogany

For the odd bits of coloured woods I can also suggest a couple of helpful Australian companies I've bought from, one of them might be able to do you a box of offcuts. Maybe try Mooloo or Australian Tonewoods.

Is that a good start?

 

[Harry-thefluteatelier]

Wood Name	Scientific Name	NOT Listed Under CITES	NOT AUS Native	Requirements
Cocuswood	Brya ebenus			N/A
Indian/Ceylon Ebony	Diospyros ebenum			N/A
Boxwood	Buxus/Buxus sempervirens			N/A
American ash	Fraxinus americana			N/A
Jatoba	Hymenaea courbaril			N/A
Padauk	Pterocarpus soyauxii	CITES Listing		Need to prove it was acquired before 23/02/2023
Red eucalyptus	Eucalyptus camaldulensis			Need a Permit if exporting, nothing is mentioned about imports.
Panga panga	Millettia stuhlmannii			N/A
Rose mahogany	Dysoxylum fraserianum/fraseranum			Need a Permit if exporting, nothing is mentioned about imports

I did this through: Link

It looks like "Padauk" is a problem but everything else should be fine.

@daveflutes would it be possible to send a full list and ill expand the table?

Also, here's the information on treatment: Link
It looks to me like as long as it's clean, free of sawdust and bark, and doesn't have any evidence of bugs then an officer will have no grounds to treat is and therefore there will beno treatment cost.

 

[daveflutes]

Hi @Harry-thefluteatelier that's fantastic, thanks for checking these. I'll have another scout around for woods this colour but being careful to pick only ones that I can name for certain. At least the most important ones are good to go.
I'm glad I didn't try sending the initial pieces of cocus that were mostly bark!

 

[daniscool]

Wood Name	Scientific Name	NOT Listed Under CITES	NOT AUS Native	Requirements
Cocuswood	Brya ebenus			N/A
Indian/Ceylon Ebony	Diospyros ebenum			N/A
Boxwood	Buxus/Buxus sempervirens			N/A
American ash	Fraxinus americana			N/A
Jatoba	Hymenaea courbaril			N/A
Padauk	Pterocarpus soyauxii	CITES Listing		Need to prove it was acquired before 23/02/2023
Red eucalyptus	Eucalyptus camaldulensis			Need a Permit if exporting, nothing is mentioned about imports.
Panga panga	Millettia stuhlmannii			N/A
Rose mahogany	Dysoxylum fraserianum/fraseranum			Need a Permit if exporting, nothing is mentioned about imports

I did this through: Link

It looks like "Padauk" is a problem but everything else should be fine.

@daveflutes would it be possible to send a full list and ill expand the table?

Also, here's the information on treatment: Link
It looks to me like as long as it's clean, free of sawdust and bark, and doesn't have any evidence of bugs then an officer will have no grounds to treat is and therefore there will beno treatment cost.

You can easily get padouk yourself from most Aussie suppliers. Check for pen blanks. At that size it should be quite economical. I believe you can also get red sandalwood (pterocarpus santalinus) pen blanks in aus.